


Dancing in the Dark

by idoltina



Series: Prompt Fills: Once Upon a Time [8]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Camelot, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-26
Updated: 2018-08-26
Packaged: 2019-07-02 15:33:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15799434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idoltina/pseuds/idoltina
Summary: Prompt fill forregal believer + dance. Post 05.02, Camelot timeline.After the ball in Camelot, Henry finds it difficult to sleep without sound.





	Dancing in the Dark

**Author's Note:**

> Can be read as a canon-compliant stand-alone, or as a prequel of sorts to [Stones](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11363262/chapters/25436631).

Camelot at night is… quiet. Henry’s not sure why that surprises him. Storybrooke prior to the curse breaking had generally been a pretty sleepy town. Sleep in Neverland had been listless and dark and riddled with whispers and laughter and things that went bump in the night. New York was _always_ noisy— it’s the city that never sleeps, after all. And Henry had spent so little time in the Enchanted Forest inside of Issac’s book that he’s not sure he would’ve even given the sounds at night a second thought; he’d been too preoccupied listening for the sound of church bells.

But Camelot is… _quiet_ in comparison, almost eerily so, although Henry wonders if tonight things are more quiet than most, given the events of the evening. Roland is asleep next to him, blissfully unaware of everything that had happened. Mom and Robin had come in a while ago, washed and changed and managing warm smiles for Roland when they woke him to say goodnight properly. They’d faltered a bit, with Henry, but he’d faked it a little too, and in the end his probably-in-the-near-future little brother had dropped back off without a care in the world.

But Henry… can’t sleep. There’s too much buzzing around in his brain, too much twisting his stomach into knots and weighing his heart down with worry. Violet’s a whisper in the back of his mind, the spark in her eyes and the warmth of her fingers brushing against his, but there’s so much more at the forefront of his mind, loud and stained dark.

It’s not like he would’ve preferred the alternative, exactly. If Percival’s blade had found its mark the way he’d intended, there’s a very real possibility that Mom wouldn’t be— 

No. No, she wouldn’t be, because Mom— Emma still would’ve done the same thing. She still would’ve helped, would’ve healed, except he thinks that maybe no one would’ve had to have asked. Which— that’s not exactly fair, he knows, it’s not like she wouldn’t have stepped up to help Robin without Mom having to ask, but it’s just… different.

Choice doesn’t always mean the same thing.


End file.
